High School Bites

by Rachael Alcobia

  “You know my routine?” he asked as if he were pleased.

  I stammered, “You-your table is by the snack stand and I buy stuff from there every day so…I’ve seen you.”

  He nodded as if content with that answer. “So,” he began, “will you be attending the field trip?”

  I nodded, “Yeah, my house manager got permission from my Social Worker. They said four teachers are going to be our chaperones but I’m just glad Ms. Bliss isn’t one of them.”

  He laughed, “Yeah, she has issues, but I’m more concerned about my mom going.” I gave him a sympathetic smile, but I felt it fade when I realized something.

  “You accused me of knowing your schedule,” I have him a sly smile, “but how did you know that I’d be at the pool?” He looked like he was trying not to smile but he failed, causing that wonderful grin to return to his face. He looked down while he shuffled his foot on the wet cement.

  “Well,” he began, “chlorine is a strong scent, and I have a particularly good sense of smell.”

  My mind drifted back to when he’d smelled my hand and I grew curious. “How good?” I asked.

  His gaze lifted back to my face at the pool’s edge and he angled his head before replying, “Good enough to know that you swim at least three times a week, your shampoo is some kind of citrus, and you must love your pig dearly. I would have thought you were a butcher or something, but there was never a scent of blood.” I stood in awe with my mouth slightly agape and he seemed to hesitate before continuing, “And something else…”

  At this point, I was beyond curious and back to suspicion. With this new information on Kodi Barrett, added to what I’d heard he and his mother speak about in the classroom, I had no idea what to think. The last thing he said registered and I remembered he’d said there was an off smell about me earlier. He must be talking about that one again and because it made him so curious I, too, wanted to know what scent he was referring to.

  “Something else?” I saw by his features that he was warring with himself about how much to tell me. I waited patiently, not wanting to push him too far because the last thing I wanted was for him to walk out the gym door. He seemed to have made a decision.

  “I don’t know what the scent is. It’s not good, but not necessarily bad either. But it doesn’t belong. The scent doesn’t belong on you. What is it?”

  I had no idea what to say to him. If it wasn’t a good smell, I’d have immediately thought of Remy, but he’d already called that one. I thought about the stomach cancer. I wasn’t sure that had a scent, but I wasn’t about to let him know that I was going to die. He might act weird around me or stop associating with me altogether and I wouldn’t risk that. I chose my words carefully.

  “I’m not a smelling connoisseur like you, and there’s not much it could be, I don’t think.”

  He looked at me for a moment.

  “You think you might know what it is.” It wasn’t a question.

  I thought about how to respond to that and finally came up with, “I’ll tell you what I think it might be if you tell me how it is you can smell things that no one else can, smells that should have washed off in the shower, apart from the shampoo.” He studied me again and I’d never seen his eyes this serious before.

  “Perhaps another time. I apologize, I’m afraid I’ve taken all of your lunch period and haven’t left you time to shower.” He reached down toward me, but his hand was at an odd angle for a handshake. I figured he’d fix it if I reached out as well, so when I did, I gasped when I suddenly flew out of the water and was suddenly fighting for my balance on the cement surrounding the pool I was just in. I’m not a light person. I knew he had some muscle, but how the hell had he done that? I voiced that last thought out loud. He just shrugged as he handed me my towel and suddenly remembering that I was standing just inches away from the guy that made my heart stop in nothing but my bathing suit, I quickly wrapped the towel around myself. Once it was secured, I looked up to find him staring at me with an amused smile.

  “Purple looks good on you.”

  He turned and walked and after looking at the clock on the far side of the gym, I carefully ran to the locker room to get changed. I walked into Chemistry to find Mrs. Barrett handing out papers so I quickly grabbed the only open desk, which was in the front and unfortunately, next to Simone.

  “You’re tardy.” She said, but I get the feeling she was speaking so the teacher could hear, rather than myself. The teacher turned to us and I prepared myself for a detention slip.

  “Actually, Simone, I was already informed that she would be late, so it was excused. Perhaps you should focus on yourself.” A couple of the other students snickered, and she turned to glare at them before turning those ice blue eyes on me. How had Mrs. Taylor known that I’d be late? I turned behind me and found Kodi four desks back and he gave me a small smile. I faced the front again and tried to ignore the fluttering in my stomach. He’d covered for me with his mother. I thought about earlier when he’d whisked me out of the water with one hand. The guy had super strength. Was that his secret? Was he a superhero or something? I know it sounded dumb, even in my head, but what else could it be? I think I’d prefer superhero to alien.

  “Ok, class. On your desks you will find your assignment, but it isn’t for today, it’s for tomorrow,” Mrs. Barrett said. Kendra raised her hand but didn’t wait for the teacher to call on her before speaking, which didn’t surprise anyone.

  “That’s during the senior camping trip. You can’t give us homework.” Everyone looked at the teacher for her response.

  She smiled at the girl, “Actually Miss Morris, I can give you homework at any time. That’s my right as your teacher. I choose not to give homework on weekends. This, however, isn’t really homework. Today you will go to the computer lab and do some research. Tomorrow night around the campfire, you will have found a chemical or material that after being tossed into the fire, will cause it to change the fire’s color.”

  A few groaned that they had to do work, but there were a few others, myself among them, that sounded intrigued with the idea of seeing fire in another color. I personally thought it would be pretty cool if I could find out how to make purple fire. The teacher escorted us across the campus to the computer lab area of the library and chatted with Mrs. Talbot, the librarian, while we began our assignment. I definitely knew my way around a computer, so it took me less than fifteen minutes to figure out what I was going to do. After school I went out on the back patio with an empty shoebox and began collecting handfuls of sawdust into a bag with a zipper. The neighbor behind the back fence was always doing some kind of wood projects and sawdust would always float to our yard. Once I’d filled the bag, I then separated it into four smaller baggies and in each one added the four different colorants that I had mixed. Once all four bags of sawdust were coated in their designated color, I spread them outside on paper plates under strainers to let them dry without the risk of them blowing away. That night they had spaghetti for dinner but since tomato sauce tended to cause more acid and make me feel sicker, I had a bowl of yogurt that Jane had set aside for me and she’d even added cut up fruit to it. What I’d do without her, I’d never know. I sat in bed wearing one of my black tank top and shorts set that I usually wore to bed and wondered why I hadn’t had any more dreams since the nightmare. The first dream had intrigued me, making me want to see what would happen next. The second however, put an end to me wanting to sleep at all much less dream. It was dark in the room and the clock’s red numbers let me know it was almost midnight. Sarah was fast asleep with a light snore. I settled back onto the pillows and pulled the black and purple comforter up to my chest. Being a side sleeper, I stared at the ceiling a little longer before rolling to my right side so that I was facing the rest of the room in the darkness and closed my eyes. I didn’t know where I was, only that it was nighttime. I couldn’t see anything, but I could feel sticks and leaves on the ground as I carefully walked forward. I could smell smoke and as
soon as that registered, a faint glow appeared in the distance. As I grew closer, the light became a campfire. I looked in every direction for signs of life and found none. That bothered me. Who then, had started the fire?

  “I did.”

  Four

  I spun around at the old woman’s voice and found her just suddenly sitting across from the fire. Where had she come from? The woman sat on a log and she wore an old-fashioned green dress made of simple cloth. Her hair was a mix of dark grey and red, so she must have been a redhead back in the day. She looked to be about eighty years old with many wrinkles around her dark emerald eyes. I realized that I’d never spoken aloud but the old woman had still answered my question.

  “Yes, and I’m sure you have more questions. Sit.”

  I sat on a log across from the fire, figuring I was safer to have it between me and the stranger. “Who are you?” I asked.

  “You may call me Maggie.” That didn’t answer much, but I could distinguish that she had an Irish accent.

  “What do you want from me?” I asked.

  “Now what makes you think I’d want anything from you?“ she asked as she watched me with knowing eyes.

  “Then why are we here?”

  Maggie tilted her head and I wondered if she was going to answer. She seemed to be assessing me like I had done the moment I’d seen her.

  Finally, she sighed. “I came to answer your questions. But I do not believe you are ready to learn the truths you seek.”

  I began to feel the stirrings of anger.

  “Listen, Lady. I don’t like games.”

  “This is no game!” The woman’s suddenly booming voice made me fall backward over my log and when my head hit the ground, I saw stars. Literally. Hundreds of stars and a crescent moon I hadn’t noticed before littered the night sky. Maggie’s face came into view as she leaned over me.

  “You will be tested, Meghan Carter. Your will must be great if you intend to survive.” I glared at the woman.

  “Save your threats for someone who’s not already dying,” I told her dejectedly.

  She smiled at me. “Dying isn’t dead. You’ll learn that soon enough,” she said and as I opened my mouth to reply she snapped her fingers. The next thing I knew, I was blinking against the harsh light of day and found my alarm going off on my cell phone. I picked it up from the bedside table and fumbled to turn it off. Sarah was buttoning her blue flannel shirt over a grey tank top when she noticed that I was sitting up.

  “Hey, you ready for the senior campout?” she asked with a smile.

  My sleep-addled brain had not yet registered why I was supposed to be awake. Today was Friday. I was going camping in the woods with my housemates along with forty-five other students. There were at least double that many seniors, but most parents still considered the woods unsafe, and they may be right. An hour later we were loading the house van with all of our camping supplies and I walked through the open garage door to grab the two tents. One was large enough to sleep the other five girls and I had a smaller, four-person tent that I bought, along with an air mattress and hand-pump. I really didn’t want to listen to the cheerleaders argue with the Latina girls and I knew Sarah would be fine with her friend Katie. I knew my equipment made me seem high maintenance but since I slept on my side, sleeping on something as hard as the ground would put extra pressure on my stomach and the last thing I wanted was to be known as the girl who puked at camp. The van was loaded, and we were headed to the school.

  Students were still arriving when we were dropped off at the front of the school where two large yellow buses waited to take us all to the woods. We checked in with our designated chaperones and packed all of our equipment in the storage compartments on the sides of the buses. The drive to the edge of the woods took about twenty-five minutes and I still hadn’t seen Kodi or his cohorts, Simone and Stephen. Since the buses couldn’t actually drive through the woods, we parked near the eastern entrance which gave me a view of the house I recognized as Kodi’s. There he was. I felt my heart pound at the sight of him in his dark jeans and form-hugging black thermal shirt. He carried his duffel bag over a muscled shoulder and his other arm was carrying two pillows. I guess there was a perk living so close. He could make as many trips for supplies as he wanted. Simone and Stephen had evidently been on the other bus because I saw them now unloading their gear. My snug jeans with holes in the knees and my comfy Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles t-shirt paled in comparison to Simone’s cleavage-bearing pink sweater and small white shorts. I gained some satisfaction in imagining her sitting down on a log and acquiring a suspicious brown stain on her backside. We followed our chaperones, including Mrs. Barrett and Mr. Peters, and followed them into the clearing that I’d seen in my first dream of… I looked at Kodi now and our eyes locked, an unreadable expression pasted on his rugged face. He’d told his mother that we’d shared a dream. Was it possible that had been the case? Someone called his name, breaking our gazes and my silent reverie.

  The students were instructed to find sites within three-hundred miles of the clearing and set up our tents. As I walked through the trees looking for a good, solitary spot, I passed by a fire pit and last night’s dream flashed to the forefront of my mind. What had the old woman said? That I’d be tested. These three dreams that I’d had about the woods had felt as real as I stood there now. I chose the small spot ten feet away from the fire pit and after I set up my tent and pumped up the air mattress, I began to restore the fire pit. I picked up all of the brush that had fallen into the center and reformed the rocks into a straighter circle. It would be nice to sit by my own fire later tonight after we did our Chemistry assignment with Mrs. Barrett at one of the four large fire pits that the chaperones were currently constructing. The main clearing is where the fire pits were, along with the ten coolers that held your basic outdoor foods and drinks. I, myself, had brought a few snacks in my backpack along with a few other essentials such as my iPod and my multi-tool army knife. A twig snapped and I found Kodi standing inside my little campsite with a sheepish look which looked so odd on his strong face. He shook his hair out of his eyes before speaking.

  “I see you don’t need any help setting up.”

  I smiled up at him and stood from my crouched position.

  “Yeah, I’ve got it covered, how about you?” I asked.

  He gestured behind him and I saw two tents set up. Stephen and Simone stood there, and as I watched Simone sitting on a cooler while Stephen unpacked just inside one of the tents, my heart dropped to the pit of my stomach. Three people, two tents. Kodi and Simone must be sharing a tent which put some stock into Kendra’s theory that they were indeed together. I pasted a fake smile on my face and looked back at Kodi.

  “That’s pretty convenient living so close to the campsite,” I said and looked back at Simone who was now watching me with a satisfied smile. My tone was flat when I spoke again. “Looks like you’ll be warm enough. Body heat always works best.” Kodi’s expression grew confused and I motioned toward Simone. He frowned and looked behind him at Simone before looking back at me.

  “The green tent is Stephen’s, the grey tent is mine. Simone is just hanging out. Her tent is over there.” He pointed at a pink tent that was twenty feet away from ours, forming a triangle. I looked back at him.

  “Well, I snagged a fire pit if you guys would like to come and keep warm tonight.” I really hoped Simone would decline, but I didn’t say so out loud.

  “Sounds like a plan,” he said with a smile. “I was going to go help my mother set up for dinner at the main fire pits. Would you care to join me?”

  “I’d love to,” I replied, elated that he’d asked me, but I felt regret eating away at me. I felt immense joy from simply being in his company but the ever-present reminder that he’d never be mine caused those happy butterflies in my stomach to slip into a silent coma. It was similar to the feeling I got whenever I imagined Kodi and Simone together. Like ice water poured over fire, distinguishing the flames that being a
round Kodi ignited within me. Now a different fire began to rise. The familiar heat of anger spiced with regret. Every time I’ve tried to disillusion myself into thinking that I’ve accepted my fate, something as simple as a stray thought of a guy I barely knew caused me to wage an emotional war on myself. It had become apparent to me that even though Kodi would never belong to me, he had become one of the few things on this earth that I stood to lose. I would miss Jane and Jensen, Dr. Thomas and the clinic, Remy… and I would miss Kodi. I would miss whatever relationship that I could have had with him, even if friendship would have remained the only card on the table. As I walked behind him now, I watched the contours of his back as he moved, and I imagined running my hands down his bare back. My heart throbbed at the prospect and I mentally steeled myself as we arrived at the main camp. I spent the next hour with a dozen other students setting up small logs for sitting around each of the four large fire pits. Kodi had unloaded a large box filled with metal kabob skewers which were to be used like wire hangers to roast the several packs of hot dogs. There were also boxes of buns and a variety of small potato chip bags. During dinner I had small hopes for sitting next to Sarah and Katie whom I didn’t know very well but I found to be friendly enough company. I’d seen Kodi and Stephen scarf down at least six hot dogs each and I had managed to eat one with a bag of chips. I had teriyaki flavored beef jerky, my favorite snack, back in my tent for later. I watched Kodi and his eyes met mine. My breath hitched at the intoxicating sight of the fire’s reflection dancing across his sharp green eyes. I couldn’t decipher the look he gave me but movement to the left of him caught my attention. Simone was twirling her red hair around a finger as she watched me with a satisfied smirk. Sarah nudged me, breaking my eye contact with Simone and offered me a bag of chips. I politely declined and when I sought out Kodi or Simone I found that both had disappeared and only Stephen now remained. Stephen’s blue eyes were focused on me and sympathy shone on his face. I didn’t know much about Stephen, but I knew he wasn’t as anti-social as Kodi was. Last year he had been on the Varsity Basketball team and I was sure his tall, lanky form had served him well on the courts. I’d seen him speak to Debbie, who’d been one of his cheerleaders before, but I don’t think they’d dated. Why would he feel sorry for me? He couldn’t know that I was sick so perhaps he had somehow guessed at my feelings for his friend and was merely sympathizing with me that I stood no chance. Stephen rose to his feet and walked away from the main camp. Mrs. Barrett took that moment to announce that in twenty minutes, her two classes would meet together at one of the fire pits to show our results from the colored fire research assignment. I headed back to my campsite to collect my backpack which held my assorted bags of sawdust. Remembering that Kodi and his two companions had left before hearing his mother’s announcement, I decided to head over to his tent to inform him so that he could do the same for Simone. As I neared the two tents, I could hear Stephen and Kodi engrossed in a heated argument. My steps faltered as I considered whether or not to eavesdrop. Slowly, I stepped closer.